Lubricating pad for railway journal bearings



M. A. HANSON July 18, 1961 LUBRICATING PAD FOR RAILWAY JOURNAL BEARINGS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 1, 1958 INVENTOR. Melvin A. Hanson BY ebb.

July 18, 1961 2,992,867

LUBRICATING PAD FOR RAILWAY JOURNAL BEARINGS M. A. HANSON 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec.

FIG.3

INVENTOR. Melvin A. Hanson United States Patent 2,992,867 LUBRICATING PAD FOR RAILWAY JOURNAL BEARINGS Melvin A. Hanson, Downers Grove, Ill., assignor to National Lead Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Dec. 1, 1958, Ser. No. 777,256 4 Claims. (Cl. 308-88) This invention relates to improvements in means for lubricating railway journal bearings and pertains more particularly to such \a means wherein mechanism is provided for partially filling the lubricant containing pad and thus lending to the bulk or thickness thereof and wherein additionally there is provided mechanism for imparting a predetermined resiliency to such pad tending to maintain the pad in proper contact or engagement with the journal so as to assure proper lubrication thereof.

Although lubricating means for railway journal bearings is a highly developed art, there is constant need for improvement and although many lubricators are available which perform their functions admirably, there has still not been developed a lubricator which is completely and entirely reliable during and under all operating conditions to which railway vehicles are subjected. The problems are manifold but one inadequacy of many lubricators is their inability or failure to maintain constant contact with the axle of the vehicle and thus to distribute thereto a continuous and uninterrupted quantity of Iubri cant. Consequently, if a lubricator becomes disengaged from the journal, failure of the bearing is imminent.

It is, therefore, of primary concern in connection with this invention to provide an improved lubricator means for journal boxes wherein a looped pad is provided, the

same being in generally flattened condition and having filler means associated therewith to increase the bulk or thickness thereof to not only retain a quantity of lubricant therein but also to assure contact of the pad with the journal during operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved lubricator pad for railway journal boxes wherein the pad itself is of cylindrical or looped shape and where in there is provided therewithin generally oval spring means which are located within the loop when in somewhat flattened condition with the major axes of such oval means extending substantially diametrically across the cylindrical or looped pad and whereby the minor axes provide resilient points of contact for maintaining the pad in proper engagement with separate areas of an proved lubricator pad for journal boxes which takes the form of a flattened cylindrical loop of absorbent material acting as a wick for distributing lubricant from a railway journal within the journal box and wherein the pad is maintained in generally figure 8 shape, there be- .ing provided thereby two discrete pockets within which are positioned filler means to contain a quantity of lubricant within the 'body of such fillers.

' Another object of this invention is to provide an improved lubricator pad for railway journal boxes wherein the pad is formed of absorbent material and generally describing the shape of a figure 8 lying on its side, there being oval spring means within the pad retaining the same in such figure 8 shape and serving to resist compression of the bulbous portions of the pad, there also being provided within said bulbous portions and within the pockets defined thereby, filler blocks which are of themselves absorbent, there being wick means to enhance the flow of lubricant to the upper portion of the pad which is directly in contact with the journal.

2,925??? Patented July 18, 1961 ice With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, and minor details of construction, within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section taken through a railway journal box and showing the improved lubricator pad located therewithin in operative association with the journal of the associated railway car;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken substantially on the plane of section line 2--2 of FIG. 1 further illustrating the disposition of the improved lubricator pad within the railway journal box;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the lubricator pad partly broken away to show details of construction thereof; and

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the lubricator pad.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 10 indicates, in general, a conventional journal box receiving the outer end of a wheel axle 11 therewithin and which journal is supported by a bearing, not shown, in the conventional manner. The box 10 is so formed as to provide a reservoir 12 for lubricant to bathe the lower half of the axle or journal 11 and, consequently, maintain the same sufiiciently lubricated as to prevent damage thereto or to the hearing which supports it, all as is well known in the art.

The improved lubricator pad is indicated generally by the reference character 13 and will be seen to consist of an outer layer of absorbent material 14 having tufts 15 protruding therefrom and which are highly absorbent, more so than the base portion of the layer itself, to engage and properly lubricate the journal 11. This outer layer 14 is in the form of a continuous loop or cylinder, being disposed in flattened generally figure 8 form so that two separate portions thereof are forced into engagement with the journal 11 as is shown most clearly in FIG. 1.

Lining the outer layer 14 is an inner layer 16 of highly absorbent material and which forms, with the outer layer 14, absorbent means for holding a substantial quantity of lubricant, the layers acting in wick-like fashion to feed the lubricant to the journal 11 and thus keep it constantly lubricated.

The two bulbous portions 17 and 18 are maintained in their shape by spring means 19 and 20 which are located therewithin. Such spring means as shown in the drawings are of generally oval form, having overlapping end portions 21 and 22 suitably fastened together as by rivets 23 and may be made, for example, of spring steel. Preferably, as is shown most clearly in FIG. 3, there are three such spring elements in each bulbous portion 17 and 18 of the pad assembly, such spring elements maintaining such bulbous portions in opened condition as shown and forming therewithin open end pockets 25 and 26. Fitted within the pockets 25 and 26 are filler means 27 and 28 which are preferably of block-like configuration formed of urethane plastic or the like and which are of sponge-like formso as to absorb lubricant. The filler blocks are received generally centrally Within the pockets 25 and 26, as shown. Lengths of wicking material 29 and '30 are provided, being passed through the inner and outer layers 14 and 16 to provide vertical wicking strips as is indicated by reference characters 31 and 32, see particularly FIG. 4. Preferably, the wicking is so passed through the inner and outer layers that it is attached at spaced points thereto only in the upper portion of the pockets as indicated at reference characters 33 and 34 with the wicking always passing upwardly through the inner layer 16 towards the center of the pad as indicated at the reference character 35 so that the portions 31 are provided with lower horizontal portions '36 which extend from such points 35 horizontally and then upwardly along the sides of the filler blocks 27 and 28. In other words, the portions 36 extend across the bottom surface of the filler blocks 27 and 28. The purpose of the wicking is to enhance the flow of lubricant to the upper region of the pad.

When the pad is formed, the inner and outer layers are brought together along diametrically opposed portions thereof and so as to divide the lubricator pad in half and are stitched or sewed as indicated by the reference character 4-4), see particularly FIGS. 2 and 3, so as to secure this center portion of the lubricator pad in the manner illustrated. Finger tabs 41 and 42 are provided which are formed from loops of material as indicated in FIG. 2 having the free ends 43 and 44 thereof sandwiched between the diametrically opposed portions of the inner layer 16 and secured therebetween by the aforementioned stitching 40 so that the tabs 41 and 42 project beyond the opposite ends of the lubricator pad whereby the same may be easily removed from the journal box regardless of which end of the pad is placed first there- .into.

The wicking 2? and 3t) affords a lubricant transferring means between the lower and upper portions of the lubricator pad and will carry the lubricant directly to the upper portion of the pad in that region thereof which is in contact forcibly with the journal 11. The oval spring elements are so placed within the pockets as to have their major axes disposed substantially horizontal and with their minor axes substantially vertical and such that when the pad is located within the journal box, the curvature of the bottom wall t thereof will hold the minor axes of the spring ovals in a substantially radial position with respect to the journal 11 and the length of such minor axes being such as to cause deformation of the spring ovals when the pad is so positioned thus forcibly contacting substantial surface areaportions of the'bulbous portions '17 and 18 against the underside of the journal 11.

As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential-characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive, and since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims, all changes that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims or that form their functional as Well as conjointly cooperative equivalents are therefore intended to be embraced by those claims.

I claim:

1. A lubricator pad for railway journal boxes comprising a sheet of absorbent material having opposite side edges thereof joined together to form a continuous loop,

'said loop having diametrically opposed portions thereof secured together dividing the loop into pockets on opposite sides thereof, means maintaining said pockets in expanded condition whereby the lubricator pad is of figure 8 form in cross section so as toresiliently engage separate areas of a railway journal, said means including a series of elliptical spring strips located withinsaid pockets, said springs being substantially coextensive in size with said pockets, said means also including elongate blocks of resilient absorbent material positioned within said pockets and within the confines of said elliptical spring strips, said blocks being of a size materially less than the size of either the pockets or the spring strips but being of a dimension cross-wise of the spring strips substantially the same as the minor diameter of the elliptical spring strips.

2. A lubricator padfor frailway journal boxes comprising a sheet of absorbent material having opposite side edges thereof joined together to forma continuous loop,

'said loop having diametrically opposed portions thereof secured together dividing the loop i-nto pockets on opposite sides thereof, means maintaining said pockets in expanded condition whereby the lubricator pad is of figure 8 form in cross section so as to resiliently engage separate areas of a railway journal, said means including a series of elliptical spring strips located within said pockets, and filler means of absorbent material positioned within said pockets and within the confines of said elliptical spring strips, said filler means :being in the form of generally rectangular elongate blocks, said blocks being of a size materially less than the size of either the pockets or the spring strips.

3. A lubricator pad for railway journal boxes comprising a sheet of absorbent material having opposite side edges thereof joined together to form a continuous loop, said loop having diametrically opposed portions thereof secured together dividing the loop into pockets on opposite sides thereof, means maintaining said pockets in expanded condition whereby the lubricator pad is of figure 3 form in cross section so as to resiliently engage separate areas of a railway journal, said means including a series of elliptical spring strips located within said pockets, and

filler means of absorbent material positioned within said pockets and within the confines of said elliptical spring strips, and there being wicking material extending between the upper and lower confines of said pockets on opposite sides of said filler means, said filler means being i in the form of elongate masses of material and each being of a size cross sectionally materially less than the size of either the pockets or the spring strips, said wicking material being in engagement with opposite sides of each associated filler means so as to hold the same centrally in position within the confines of said spring strips.

4. In combination with a railway journal box having ajournal therein, a lubricator pad positioned within said box beneath said journal, said pad being in the form of a flattened cylinder of absorbent material joined in diametrically opposed longitudinally extending portions thereof to provide a configuration generally in accordance with a figure eight and thereby providing immediately adjacent generally elliptical pockets beneath said journal and on opposite sides of a vertical plate extending through the center line of the journal, a series of elliptical springs disposed in longitudinally spaced relation in each of said pockets, each of said springs being formed of resilient, metallic strip material, each spring being of a size substantially the same as its associated pocket and having a minor diameter of a size such that each spring is somewhat flattened so as to press discrete and relatively narrow portions of the absorbent material against circumferentially spaced undersurface portions of the journal, wicking material extending between the upper and lower portions of the absorbent material forming each pocket and longitudinally therealong in separated vertical flights disposed substantially equidistantly on either side ofthe medial portion of each pocket and encompassing therebetween an area substantially less than the total area of the pocket, and a generally rectangular, elongate filler block disposed within each pocket between and engaged with the vertical flights of said wicking, the vertical height of each filler block being substantially identical with the minor diameter of the elliptical springs, whereby the springs together with the blocks are compressed or flattened between the journal box and the journal with the wicking in intimate contact with opposite sides of the filler block and between the lowermost regions of the absorbent material and the uppermost regions thereof.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 264,251 Davis Sept. 12,1882 538,553 Sichelschmidt Apr.;30, 1895 2,115,457 Cunningham et al Apr. 26, 1938 2,713,524 Hagy July 19, 1955 2,807,803 Rockwell Sept; 24, 1957 

